Charlotte Flair Addresses the Haters Ahead of WrestleMania 38 Match vs. Rousey

For as popular of a performer as she is, Flair is also among the most polarizing in WWE today. That’s largely due to her long list of accolades and fans feeling she’s been overpushed for the past few years.

While certain storylines haven’t been the best, there can be no denying the star that The Queen is and the many remarkable matches she’s had in the last decade. She’s continually made the most of every opportunity and risen to the occasion every time but catches flack for the company because of how overexposed she’s been.

Rarely taking time off is an incredibly impressive feat, but it’s almost worked against her to an extent with the way she’s been booked. Some of her title reigns have been more pointless than others, but it wasn’t until recently that she finally had her first real run since her original reign as SmackDown women’s champion in 2017 and 2018.

“I have been on top since 2015, whether I’ve been holding the title or not,” Flair said. “People don’t realize how much pressure and hard work and dedication and I’ve never been about for a lengthy time. I’ve never had a major injury and to be able to stay on top like that is a tremendous amount of work in our industry. Instead of looking at it as a positive, like ‘Wow, what a consistent performer, what a hard-worker,’ it’s just, ‘Ugh, she’s always in the title picture, she always has the title.'”

She went on to emphasize how many women she’s elevated while champion over the years and that being an exceptional athlete is part of the reason why she has so many detractors. At WrestleMania 38, she aims to thrive off their negativity and give them a reason to dislike her by beating Rousey to retain her title.

“There’s a lot of title runs I’m not proud of just because I didn’t do anything with it, but when you look at it, it’s multiple feuds with multiple women that I dropped the title to,” Flair said. “One of my favorite matches of all time was a main event on Raw where I dropped the title to Bayley in 2017. With where I’m at today, it’s not that they don’t like the good, they just don’t like the best. There’s a quote I look at, that’s not exactly it. But I must be doing something right to always be talked about: good, bad or indifferent.

“I don’t think the same criticism always goes toward men being in the title picture. In this business, you want to be the champion. It’s not like you wake up and say, ‘Today, I don’t want to be the champion.’ No, you should always want to be the champion. That means you’re the hardest worker in the room when you’re holding that title. Yes, I don’t understand the criticism sometimes, but at the same time, my haters make me that much better.”

Catch Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey on Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 on April 2 live on Peacock, WWE Network and pay-per-view at 8/7c.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.